Circular looping machine



I0, 1951 R. GRANDNOM 2,560,435

' CIRCULAR LOOPING MACHINE Filed March 12', 1946 2 Shet's-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RE -I GRAN'DNOM- HIS AGENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 12, l946 INVENTOR RENE GRANDNOM 9%? 17mm HIS AGENT Patentecl July 10, 1951 l CIRCULAR LOOPING MACHINE Ren Grandnom, Troyes, France, assignor to Mrs. Raymonde Lebocey, born 'Belleuvre, Bernard Jules Ernest Lebocey, Juliette Lebocey, and Annick Louise Suzanne Lebocey, all of Troyes, France Application March '12, 1946, Serial No. 653,767 I In France March 27, 1945 1 Claim. 1

It is well known that most of the defects in stitching adjacent loops of a pair of knitted fabric pieces impaled on impaling pins have their origin in a lack of accuracy in the permutation of the impaling pins in front of the needle.

In known circular looping machines the said permutation or shifting of the impaling pins, corresponding to an almost impreceptible angular displacement, is controlled either by a ratchet-motion or by a system of reducing gears connected with the crown by a very small spur or bevel pinion which consequently has a very small number of teeth.

Said pinion, on accountof its size, operates in very unsatisfactory conditions as far as both wear and gear guiding are concerned.

In such a device thecrown can hardly perform its rotational movement with all the desirable accuracy, so that the needle approaches the groove in the impaling pin now to the left and now to the right thereof, which results in various troubles such as broken needles and missed stitches.

In addition, it is to be noted that a large enough place must be reserved to set the stitchforming members; therefore, the designers cannot arrange the crown-driving means directly in front of the needle, and there must be, on the crown, a large angle between the working point of the needle and the meshing point of the crown with the small connecting pinion.

In consequence, unavoidable play between the crown and its axle varies the position of the working impaling pin.

For the purpose of partially remedying this, it has been proposed to enlarge greatly the size of the connecting gear so as to increase correspondingly the number of teeth in mesh and thus to obtain a more accurate working of the gearing. That remedy failed because the plays and troubles arising from the other intermediate gear wheels were thus increased automatically in the same proportion.

The same inconvenience is to be found in certain circular linking machines whose impaling-pin-carrying ring is driven by a worm spindle through the medium of additional gear wheels the last of which meshes with the teeth rigid with the ring at a point angularly displaced with respect to the vertical plane through the impaling-pin.

This invention brings a complete and definitive solution to the problem inasmuch as a worm spindle is provided as the last connect- Jacqueline Henriette 2 v ing member between the driving shaft and the crown of impaling pins.

Such a worm spindle, which favourably can be arranged under the crown itself, right below the path'of the needle, will annihilate the disturbing effects of the plays liable to appear in the fit of the crown. The transmission now becoming irreversible between the crown and the worm spindle, the latter will provide for a perfect locking of the impaling-pin in its working position.

A material advantage is also that the consequences of the plays and defects existing in the various intermediate pinions or parts will thus be minimized to the utmost. This latter result is the natural consequence of the high ratio of transmission involved by the worm gear, in

-which even an extremely small angular displacement of the crown will always correspond to a right substantial rotation of the worm jspindle and conversely.

'One embodiment of the device according to this invention as applied to the circular looping machine of known pattern is shown by way of example in the appended drawing.

Figure 1 is a fractional sectional view showing the various connecting members between the crown and the driving shaft.

Figure 2 is a plan view partially in section, corresponding to Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 represents the oscillating support in the position in which the worm spindle 8 is clear from the teeth Ha of the ring ll.

Fig. 4 is a side View, partially in section, corresponding to Fig. 3.

The driving shaft l imparts its rotational movement to shaft 2 through worm gears 3 and 4.

Driving shaft l is the main shaft for the frame device and in well-known manner carries the usual eccentrics for the actuation of the needle and hook.

Said shaft 2, which is connected with the oblique shaft 5 through pinions 6 and 1, transmits the motion to the worm spindle 8 through the connecting worm gears 9 and I0.

Preferably, the ratio of reduction of the gearing is so selected that worm spindle B, which meshes directly with the worm ring II, will always perform a very substantial rotation at every permutation of the impaling pins.

In a preferred embodiment the worm spindle 8 is mounted in support [9, said support {9 being mounted for rocking motion on pin 20 so that spindle 8 can be disengaged instantaneousport 19.

1y from the worm ring ll, whereby the latter can be set free and rotated as desired through a wide angle.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The ring proper II which carries the impaling-pins I4 is rotatably carried by a fixed circular plate I2.

The needle I5 is mounted on an arm I6 and is directed towards the working impaling-pins it is actuated in known manner by a system of eccentrics, rods and guides (not shown).

According to the invention, the worm spindle 8 meshes directly with the teeth Ila of the worm ring ll right below the needle l5.

The worm spindle 8 is driven by the main shaft I through the medium of shafts 2, 5, I! connected with one another through gear pairs 34, 6!, and 9I0.

The shaft 2 is supported by the fixed plate H.

The sloping shaft 5 mounted in a support l8 secured to the underside of said plate.

As to the shaft I! that carries the worm spindle 8, it is carried preferably by a support 19 mounted for rocking motion on a pin 20 in the support [8 so that the worm spindle 8 can be swung clear from the gear ring Ila. Said support [9 is actuated e. g. by means of a ballasted lever 21 pivoted at 22 to the support l8 and connected by a link 23 to one arm I90, of the sup- In this manner, due to the action of :30

the counterweight and if necessary of an auxiliary spring 24, said support is held in the position in which spindle 8 meshes with Ila (Fig. 1) for the normal operation of the looping machine. mentarily out of action it is only necessary to raise the lever H to its position as shown in Fig. 3, whereafter the gear ring can be rotated through any desired angle.

Obviously, the present description has no'lim- When the latter has to be set mo- 85 4 I itative character and is given here as a mere example of the many ways in which the device according to this invention can be applied and embodied.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a circular looping machine adapted for stitching adjacent loops of a pair of knitted fabric pieces impaled on impaling pins, comprising a stationary plate, a rotary ring supported on said plate and carrying the impaling pins arranged radially thereof, a needle set in front of the edge of the rotary ring and arranged in a radial plane of this ring and means for reciprocating synchronously said needle in said radial plane so that impaling pins be engaged one after another by said needle and that a pair of loops be linked whenever an impaling pin is engaged by the needle, an improvement consisting in that the ring is moved in rotation by a wormgear driver including teeth rigid with said ring and a worm spindle meshing directly with said teeth at a point situated in the radial plane or" the ring passing through the needle, on the same side as the needle with respect to the axis of the ring.

RENE GRANDNOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,679,428 Kohler Aug. '7, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,235 Great Britain of 1904 

